BBC News launches connected TV app

The BBC has today launched a BBC News application for connected TV sets, starting with Samsung's range of Smart TVs.

The BBC said that the app, which combines video and text content from BBC News Online, reflects its strategy "to deliver greater value for money for licence-fee payers by repurposing BBC Online products for a wide range of devices".

The app also taps into the growing market for connected TVs, with almost 36 million sets expected to have built-in web capability in the UK by the end of 2016, according to 3 Reasons.

The BBC News app will initially be made available on Samsung's Smart TVs, which are currently the market leader in Europe. The BBC said that it is in talks with all the other major TV manufacturers, including Sony's Bravia Internet Video platform, which currently offers Sky News content.

Designed to complement the BBC's live 24-hour rolling news channel, the app will be updated constantly with new video and text by a 24/7 BBC Online team.

The Red Button is the most popular interactive TV service in the UK, attracting 12 million users per week. In comparison, connected TV is still an emerging market, but a spokesman for the BBC noted that the BBC News app offers more sophisticated functionality than News Multiscreen, including options to pause, fast forward and rewind videos.

There are currently no options to personalise the connected TV app, but the spokesman said that this sort of functionality could be introduced in the future.

Phil Fearnley, general manager for news & knowledge in BBC Future Media, said: "Internet-connected TV is developing as a medium and presents an exciting and engaging complement to our existing TV services.

"As we've seen with BBC iPlayer in the UK, and our global smartphone applications, audiences enjoy the freedom and flexibility of BBC services at a time and place that suits them - whether on the move or on the living-room TV.

"Looking forward, we are particularly interested in creating seamless, personalised, and location-aware experiences of BBC News across all connected devices - mobiles, tablets, computers, and TVs. Internet-connected TV is still in its infancy, but innovations such as this hint at the long-term creative potential of the internet as a medium."

Steve Herrmann, editor of the BBC News website, added: "By combining the latest and best reports in video from the BBC's unrivalled newsgathering and TV news teams with the extensive range of up-to-the-minute reporting from the BBC News website, this service broadens the availability of the BBC's world class journalism to audiences in a new and innovative on-demand format."

The BBC News app is available now free of charge from the Samsung Apps Store. BBC Worldwide intends to launch an international version of the product, which will be supported by advertising.